


Boys Will Be Bugs

by SundayZenith



Series: Alphabet Shuffle [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Mai and Ty Lee are referenced but they don't actually appear, Partially Blind Zuko (Avatar), Partially Deaf Zuko (Avatar), Pre-Series, Zuko has tinnitus, Zuko is a softy, set when Zuko is but a wee fourteen year old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:07:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28521402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SundayZenith/pseuds/SundayZenith
Summary: "There’s no letter from Azula, or from their father, or from anyone else. It sounds like his fourteenth birthday -- the crown prince’s fourteenth birthday -- went unacknowledged by the royal family, which probably wouldn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the Fire Nation.Zuko shreds Ty Lee and Mai’s letter and tells himself the only reason he immediately regrets doing so is because he didn’t burn it instead.He’s been banished for nearly a year now, and he still flinches at his own fire."--B -- "Boy Will Be Bugs" by Cavetown
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Mai & Ty Lee & Zuko
Series: Alphabet Shuffle [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087556
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	Boys Will Be Bugs

**Author's Note:**

> "Don't mess with me I'm a big boy now and I'm very scary  
> I punch my walls, stay out at night, and I do karate  
> Don't message me cause I won't reply, I wanna make you cry  
> Ain't that how its s'posed to be? Though it isn't me  
> Boys will be bugs right?"  
> -Boys Will Be Bugs by Cavetown
> 
> \--  
> I’ve set a mini-writing project for myself: Set my playlist on shuffle, go down the alphabet and take the first song that has the letter I’m on at the start of the title, and writing something based on it. I’m not sticking to a specific fandom, not sticking to a specific writing schedule, just seeing where this little project takes me and how long it takes me to complete it, if I actually do.

The letter, delivered via hawk, arrives two days after the solstice, one day after what the majority of the Fire Nation believe Zuko’s birthday is, two days after it actually is. It's signed from both Ty Lee and Mai, but Zuko’s pretty sure Ty Lee was the one who actually wrote it -- it's full of “We hope your journey is going well!” and “We’re sorry there isn’t a feast this year at the palace because we miss all the wonderful foods, but we’re sure your ship is holding your own feast!” and “The aura of the entire palace is different without you here.”

The letter only mentions Azula once -- “Azula’s been busy training lately, so we haven’t seen her often, but we’re all planning on visiting one of the colonies once the weather gets warmer, that should be fun!”

There’s no letter from Azula, or from their father, or from anyone else. It sounds like his fourteenth birthday -- the _crown prince’s_ fourteenth birthday -- went unacknowledged by the royal family, which probably wouldn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the Fire Nation.

Zuko shreds Ty Lee and Mai’s letter and tells himself the only reason he immediately regrets doing so is because he didn’t burn it instead.

He’s been banished for nearly a year now, and he still flinches at his own fire. 

\--

There wasn’t a feast, or celebration of any kind, aboard his ship. Zuko had made sure of it, raising his voice as loud as he could to make sure his uncle understood this: anyone that wanted to acknowledge the day as anything other than the day after the solstice would regret it immediately. He locked himself in his room on the day of the solstice itself, knowing that Uncle was the only one that knew it was his actual birthday. The rest of the crew knew to avoid him -- a firebender, even one too afraid to even use their own bending, wanting to be left alone to rest on the day when the sun’s appearance in the sky was at its briefest was understandable (not to mention the crew had learned months ago to avoid him anyway. He knew his temper and his appearance made him unpleasant to be around, and he took advantage of that).

Save a few side glances from his crew, a steady increase in invitations from his uncle for tea and Pai Sho that he made sure to turn down, and Ty Lee and Mai’s letter, Zuko got his wish. As far as anyone was concerned Zuko might as well have been fourteen the entire time he was one the ship. It's not like his age mattered anyway, thirteen or fourteen he was still the banished and branded Fire Nation prince seeking out the Avatar.

\--

A week after the letter arrives, they dock at an Earth Kingdom town for supplies. Normally, Zuko would beg off of supply runs, instead preferring to relearn his katas without using his bending or pouring over the documents he had on previous Avatars (not that there was much useful information. The current Avatar was probably an ancient Air Nomad in hiding, since Zuko doubted a Water Tribe Avatar would’ve gone unnoticed for so long, something that in turn also ruled out an Avatar from the Earth Kingdom. Trying to research the previous Air Nomad Avatar, Avatar Yangchen, was difficult, however, since she lived nearly four hundred years ago, and either her life wasn’t documented well or most documentations of her life were destroyed or lost when Zuko’s great-grandfather took out the Air Nomads at the start of the war). Uncle Iroh, however, insisted that Zuko leave the ship and “walk around a bit, Prince Zuko. Your old uncle could do with some dry land and sunshine for his old bones, and a young man such as yourself can benefit from such things as well” -- nevermind the fact that the deck of the ship got plenty of sun.

Zuko should have suspected ulterior motives, especially when Uncle Iroh very loudly pointed out a flyer in the marketplace advertising a traveling theatre troupe that would be putting on an abridged retelling of the love story of Oma and Shu later that night. 

“We must stay for that, Prince Zuko -- it's a classic tale and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. I’m sure the crew could do with a night or two ashore as well,” Iroh said.

Zuko grumbled and rolled his eyes at this -- even if they still didn’t have any leads on where the Avatar might be, every minute ashore doing childish things like watching plays was a minute they could’ve used for their search. Still, he didn’t fight his uncle too hard. It had been years since he’d attended the theatre. The last time he’d gone to see a play, Azulon was still Fire Lord.

(When his mother and Lu Ten were still around to take him to the theatre and buy him playscripts and theatre masks).

Zuko even indulged his uncle in sharing a cup of jasmine tea while they waited for night, half listening to Iroh prattle on about mildly embarrassing stories from when Zuko was a baby.

“...I remember your first steps. You had started walking later than most babies, but I remember you would hold onto tables and servants’ robes to pull yourself up and try to run as soon as you had your feet under you,” Uncle chuckled. “You’d get so frustrated because you wouldn’t get very far before falling, but once you really got the hang of it, you could outrun any guard or servant. The only one that could keep up with you was your mother, and that’s because you were usually running _to_ her…”

Okay, less than half listening. After being scarred, Zuko’s left ear usually had a distant ringing in it. He’d learned to mostly tune it out at this point, but right now he was letting himself focus on the ringing to tune Uncle out. Thankfully, most of the crew had wandered off to take advantage of the impromptu day off, which meant the only one actually listening to Uncle talk was Uncle himself. 

Then Uncle Iroh said something that got Zuko’s attention.

“...was wondering how your friends were doing. Mai and Ty Lee were their names, correct? Maybe if they ever find themselves in the Earth Kingdom, we can entertain them for a bit. I find that, as wonderful as letters are, there’s nothing quite like seeing your dear friends in person, _especially_ after a long time apart-”

“Mai and Ty Lee aren’t my friends,” Zuko cut in. “They’re _Azula’s._ ”

Iroh took a long, slow sip of tea, eyeing Zuko over the brim of the cup, and Zuko felt a flare of annoyance at the ways his uncle’s eyebrows furrowed. “Believe or not, Princess Azula can share her friends with you, and vice versa, nephew. The wonderful thing about friends is all the connections of their own that they can in turn bring to your life-”

“Azula doesn’t share, Uncle,” Zuko said, cutting him off again -- it was rude, yes, but Zuko had a feeling that, if he let him, Uncle Iroh could probably go on for hours about the _wonders_ of _friendship._

Iroh hummed in acknowledgement, taking another sip of tea, and Zuko prepared to let the ringing take over most of his attention again when Iroh confessed, “I was under the impression that they were more your friends than your sister’s, Prince Zuko.”

“What, why?” Zuko couldn’t recall a time where Iroh and Azula’s friends were ever in the same room together, let alone a time where Iroh was in the same room as Azula’s friends when Azula was making him play with them. Even then, Zuko made it clear he was only doing so reluctantly.

Iroh, much to Zuko’s confusion, looked almost guilty. “They’ve written to you several times since we’ve started our journey, have they not? I recall you getting personal letters over the months, and the other day when I went to ask if you wanted to join us for music night, I saw a torn piece of paper signed with their names on it on the floor of your room.”

Zuko felt his face burn. Yes, Ty Lee had sent him two other letters, both going on about schooling and how much she loved the circus and life in Capital city now that he wasn’t there to embarrass anyone (not that she said the last part, or even thought it, but Zuko was able to pick it up in the details), and Mai had written him a short note _once_ about how she had a baby brother now and didn’t see the appeal (she _had_ sent one of her throwing knives along with it, which he had to admit was kind of a big deal for her. Unfortunately, this was just after his bandages came off for good -- much later than expected, thanks to an infection that still had his left eye blinded -- and his spatial awareness and balance was at its worst. The knife had ended up in the water after nearly taking Jee’s head off).

Instead of pointing this out, Zuko said through slightly gritted teeth, “That doesn’t change the fact that they’re still Azula’s.”

“Oh, Prince Zuko…” Uncle Iroh looked _sad,_ and Zuko felt something unpleasant in his chest clench at that. “Have you ever written them back? Prince Zuko, your sister does not own these two. They aren’t anyone’s property. The fact that they’re reaching out to you, by their own choice I assume, at all must mean something.”

Uncle Iroh put his teacup down, willingly, which Zuko knew was never a good thing.

“Prince Zuko, if you do not wish to be friends with these two, I understand -- you clearly know them better than I do, and I trust your judgement-” Zuko almost laughed at that. He wouldn’t yell nearly as much as he did if anyone on the ship trusted his judgement. “-but you are young. You deserve friendship as much as any teenager. Perhaps, tonight at the show, you could reach out to another theatre goer. I’m sure having a penpal, someone your own age you could relate to, would make your time on the ship far more pleasant.”

“I don’t need a ‘penpal,’ Uncle! I need to capture the Avatar so I can _go home_ and forget the stupid ship!” As if anyone would _want_ to relate to someone as dishonorable as him anyway, Zuko thought to himself.

“Everyone needs friends, Prince Zuko. No one was meant to go through this life alone.”

“I’m not lonely!”

Zuko didn’t need to be able to read faces to tell Uncle didn’t believe him. After a moment, during which Iroh seemed to wage an internal war with himself, he sighed and said, “You hold everyone at a distance, not even letting us celebrate milestones with you, dear nephew. If you would allow yourself happiness-”

Zuko stood, kicking his abandoned teacup for good measure, and said, “I am happy!”

Iroh raised an eyebrow at that. 

“Whatever, I don’t need to listen to this,” Zuko turned and stalked away, shouting over his shoulder, “ _Don’t_ follow me!”

Ignoring his uncle’s calls, Zuko walked through the town and into the trees surrounding it _._ He had wanted to go back to the ship, but part of him wanted to set the entire thing on fire, spirits damn his childish phobia.

Zuko kicked a few loose rocks along his path, muttering about _friendship_ and _loneliness_ and how his uncle _clearly didn’t know anything_ with each kick. It wasn’t until he nearly ran into a spider-fly web that he realized he wasn’t sure where he was going or the path he had taken.

It was fine, he told himself. He could feel the sun pull at his inner fire as it set. Even when working with only one fully functioning eye and ear, as long as he had his bending, his sense of direction wasn’t as affected as it could have been.

Now if only he actually knew the specific direction the town had been in. 

Again, this was fine. Banished or not, he was still the crown prince. The crew wouldn’t leave without him, and unless they wanted to relocate permanently to some random Earth Kingdom town, they’d have to find him to leave. 

Besides, Zuko thought, being a little lost wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in this scenario. If he didn’t know where he was, then neither did anyone that would bother him, especially since they didn’t know he was lost.

Settling against a tree to actually enjoy the quiet, he wondered to himself if the Avatar was utilizing a similar strategy. Did Air Nomads even have the concept of getting lost, if so much of their culture seemed to have been based on traveling between different locations?

Thanks to the infection that followed the burn, which set him back for over a month in both his search and his healing, Zuko had only been able to search the Western Air Temple. Maybe the other Air Temples had more complete Air Nomad histories that Zuko could use to understand the Avatar?

As Zuko mused to himself, he made sure to turn his left side towards the tree to keep his blindspot covered, and kept his right eye and ear open, in case anything tried to approach him. It was harder to tune out the ringing in his ear when there wasn’t any other background noise to focus on (sometimes, no matter how much he tried to, the ringing wouldn’t tune out at all. The healers aboard the ship believed his eyesight and hearing would improve with time, but they still couldn’t guess what damage was permanent at this point, beyond the ugly scar that twisted half his face), but Zuko found the forest wasn’t nearly as quiet as it seemed. There was rustling and buzzing and the sound of crawling that he could focus on.

It was almost meditative.

Almost. Above him, there was an annoying tiny buzzing that grew louder and more frantic by the minute. It was so persistent that Zuko almost thought his ear decided that specific moment was a good one to start ringing excessively.

Looking up, Zuko saw the spider-fly web he had almost walked into now held a tiny spider-fly. It’s legs were tugging at the webbing, trying to free its now caught wings.

It was a pitiful sight. Zuko was walking towards it before he even realized he was on his feet.

Once he reached the web, the spider-fly seemed to notice him and started buzzing more frantically. He thought it sounded like it was crying to be saved -- by him or from him, he couldn’t guess.

“My sister would squash you with her own fingers,” he said. The spider-fly buzzed again, and he imagined it said _What about you?_

“You’re pathetic,” he went on, trying to ignore how his chest tightened again as he looked at the spider-fly. “If I free you, you’ll just get caught in your own web again. Who’ll free you, then?”

The spider-fly twitched it’s legs, as if it were shrugging. Zuko pursed his lips, watching it, then, hesitantly, reached out a finger. “Here.”

The spider-fly wrapped its legs around his outstretched finger. Gently, Zuko pulled it forward and used his other hand to pull the webbing away from its wings.

“There you go,” Zuko said, softly. The spider-fly buzzed again, though it didn’t sound frantic anymore. “Just… be more careful in the future. I won’t be able to help you if you get caught again. What’s the point of you if you get caught in your own web anyway?”

There was a _crunch,_ sounding like it came from somewhere behind him. Zuko whirled around, rooting his feet beneath him and taking a defensive stance automatically.

A familiar chuckle made Zuko relax his stance, dropping it when his uncle stepped through the trees. “Spider-flies, admittedly, do not have very long lives. They are a solitary species. However, if another spider-fly, or rather, any passing soul, wishes to lend a hand, or seven-” Uncle laughed at his own joke. Zuko made sure his face showed how unimpressed he was by it. “-they can be freed from their own web to live another day.”

Zuko felt like there was a lesson in his uncle’s words. He elected to ignore it, instead saying, “Did you follow me?”

“No, Prince Zuko. I did, however, follow the sound of teen angst. It’s hard to miss, once you know what to listen for.”

Zuko just glared at his uncle. After a moment, Iroh said, “Well, actually, I just went to the forest and picked a direction, figuring that’s what you did. Luckily, I overheard you speaking with your new friend here.”

Zuko realized the spider-fly was still wrapped around his finger. He waved his hand until it got the message, taking flight. It buzzed around his head for a moment. Then it was gone.

Uncle Iroh put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Do you still want to see the theatre troupe? If we head back now, we should be able to make it in time for it to start. I asked a couple crewmen to save us spots, so we don’t have to worry about it.”

“You’re the one who wanted to see the troupe,” Zuko pointed out, telling himself he _wasn’t_ glad he hadn’t missed the show.

“Of course. Would you still accompany me?” 

“...Fine,” Zuko finally said. “But if you make me talk to anyone-”

“I know, I know,” Iroh smiled at Zuko, but even Zuko could tell it was off somehow. Then, his uncle’s eyes took on a mischievous glint. “I’m glad to hear you won’t have any letters to distract you from spending time with your dear, old uncle. I thought you were busy writing, but now that I know you aren’t, you won’t mind spending time with me, right?”

“Oh no.”

“I think it’s high time I sat you down and taught you how to make tea. We can even discuss the history behind the fine art of tea brewing.”

“Uncle.”

“And I know Jee and some of the other crewmen have been dying to hear you play the tsungi horn.”

_“Uncle.”_

Iroh just gave Zuko a smile. Grumbling, Zuko let his uncle lead him out of the forest.

When they get back to the ship that night, he pulls out ink and a blank sheet of parchment paper.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: sunshine-zenith


End file.
